


A Pot of Flowers

by KomaedaClear



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Flower Shop/Tattoo Shop AU, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-01
Updated: 2017-05-09
Packaged: 2018-02-19 10:42:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 15,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2385467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KomaedaClear/pseuds/KomaedaClear
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An older Dipper and his sister have opened up a tattoo shop in Gravity Falls. Problem is, Mabel has left him to run it for the summer on his own. Now he has to deal with the new shop owner next door and his flower shenanigans.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> First time posting a BillDip fanfic. This may or may not have an actual plotline. Really I just wanted to use a bunch of cute flower meanings to get a flustered Bill or Dipper.
> 
> Anyways I dedicate this to everyone. Yes. Even you. I hope that future chapters will have you either begging for more or begging me to stop.

Dipper rubbed the sweat from his forehead as he looked at the time. It was almost time for the store to close and he had so far seven customers. Since they all came earlier in the day when it was cooler, he had nothing to do as the sun glared down through the shop's front windows. His twin sister, who ran the shop, had yet to put in air conditioning, and seeing she was traveling this summer, he had to sit through the heat.

Dipper took the last swig of water from his bottle and got up to close and lock the front door. As he looked through the window, he gazed at the setting sun over Gravity Fall's trees, still glaring back at him in intensifying heat. He sighed as he took out his keys and locked up.

After he and his sister graduated, she somehow got him a job at a tattoo parlor her boyfriend owned, and since sales were huge, they both decided to open up a second shop for the boyfriend to pay for his drinking (Mabel had said he was quitting) and they chose Gravity Falls. Of course they opened up at the beginning of summer and she left him in charge. Since the town was so small the most business he got was from the tourists that Grunkle Stan pointed his way. The old man let him stay as ling as he paid ten dollars a week, and Soos was kind enough to lend him a couple bucks for food and drinks while in town.

As he walked along the street to the dirt road that Soos would pick him up at, he noticed how the For Sale sign to the right of his shop was gone. He silently congratulated the seller and hoped for the best for the buyer and went on his way.


	2. The Totally Cool Tattoo Guy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dipper meets the guy next door, and the heat gets hotter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title probably has nothing to do with the chapter but oh well. Enjoy a hot day in Gravity Falls.

His watch read 6:30 AM as he walked up to the front door. He had an hour before he would open up, which gave him enough time to lollygag about. As he was about to turn the handle on the door, he heard a greeting from beside him.

"Hey there!" the friendly voice said. Dipper turned to a very dapper man. The snappy dresser had a golden vest, black long-sleeved dress shirt and pants, large black bowtie and top hat, golden hair with bangs slightly covering a triangular eye patch on his left eye.

So that must be the buyer of the shop, Dipper thought. Might as well make conversation, he reasoned. "Hey."

The man seemed to smile oddly as he glanced up to the ball cap on Dipper's head. He somehow still fit it even though its been eight years since he first got it. "How are you this fine day, Pine Tree?"

Dipper cringed. "I'm fine, uh, sir." He stepped back from the door awkwardly. He looked past the man and grimaced. There were flowers of every kind already set up in the window, and potted plants just outside. Not only is a flower shop next to a tattoo parlor a bad combination, but in this heat the flowers won't stand a chance.

The man noticed him looking at his shop and grinned even wider. "Don't worry about formalities, Pine Tree. I'm sure we'll become great friends!" He leaned on a black and golden cane that seemed to appear out of nowhere. "The names' Bill Cipher." He held out his right hand for Dipper to shake.

"Dipper Pines," he answered, shaking his hand.

Bill seemed to hold his hand a little longer than necessary, then let go as he leaned forward to look into the tattoo shop. "Do you get many customers up here?"

Dipper shook his head. "No, not really. When tourists come I get a couple, but that's pretty odd." He looked at the flowers, then back at the man. "So why a flower shop, anyway? Isn't that for, like, old ladies or something?"

Bill narrowed his eyes in annoyance. "Being a florist is a high class job where I come from, i'll have you know." He lifted his chin and grinned. "I'm sure I will plenty of business today." He turned gracefully and walked into his shop.

Dipper rolled his eyes. Weird guy, he thought to himself, and opened up for the day.

 

At high noon Dipper opened his collar with his index finger as sweat poured down his face. He had his hat off, the shortest shorts he owned, a dozen fans going, and the open door, and yet he was still hotter than the Sahara Desert. The click above the door read 12:18, about twelve minutes until his lunch break. He got up and groggily walked to the front of the store. So far two teenagers came in that day, the same from a week ago, and it was much too hot for tourists that day. He grabbed a can of Pitt from the cooler and thought about moving it closer to the desk when he saw how vibrant the flowers outside the store next to him was. He was in awe at how the flowers could be alive in this weather  
He spotted Bill watering some roses, whistling to himself, and he didn't seem fazed by the heat at all.

Looking up at the clock, he decided to go for lunch early and walked outside into even more glaring heat as he made his way to Bill's flower shop.

The man stopped his whistling to smile widely at Dipper. "Hello there, Pine Tree! Care for some cool air?" He gestured to inside the shop, where a blast of cold air was shooting out from.

Without thinking twice, Dipper quickly stumbled inside, opening his Pitt cola and gulping down a heavy bunch.

"Now now Pine Tree, don't drink too much!" Bill's voice sounded from the door.

Dipper regained his senses as he cooled down, and looked at the countless amount of flowers all around him. There were so many shapes and colors he had no idea what any of them were called. He looked at a door-sized mirror and saw how miserable he looked compared to the room around him.  
Hair attached his face and neck, gray shirt with sweat stains everywhere his skin touched, and his hot, red, dreary face. His hand began to stick to the can of cola and he seemed to be panting hard. He grimaced at how unattractive he was and turned away.

He jumped out of his skin at how close Bill seemed to be to him, wide, creepy smile getting even bigger than was humanly possible. His one eye looked a cats, and his tie seemed tighter and bigger than before.

"Enjoy the cold?" Bill asked.

"Uh, y-yeah, sure," Dipper stuttered out as he back into an empty vase. His blood ran cold as he heard the vase swivel then fall with a crash to the ground.

Bill shook his head and tsked at him. "Now, Pine Tree, it isn't very kind of you when I invite into my shop and the first thing you do is break something."

"I am so sorry!" Dipper apologized. He back up and made an entire stand of flowers topple over.

Bill sniffed. "Now you're just hurting my feelings." He brought out a broom from behind a desk and started sweeping up the broken vase.

"I, uh, I think I should go," Dipper excused himself and left hurriedly, back into the blazing, agonizing heat. Back in his shop he tried his best not to let his guilt overcome him, and he slowly got back into the 'cool tattoo guy' mood.

 

Back in the flower shop, Bill giggled. "It was only a $5 vase from a cheap store," he whispered to himself. He stood up and snapped his fingers, the mess disappearing and the cool breeze lessening. He looked into the mirror, then looked back at the flowers quickly. His cane appeared and he leaned on it, awaiting his next customer.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dipper goes on a date-not-date with Bill and they have small talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry it gets much sadder later on.

Dipper opened his eyes in a panic as his cell phone rang on the desk in front of him. It was Mabel's opening to her guide to life when she was twelve, and Dipper answered it in a hurry.

"Hey brother!" she greeted excitedly. "Soooo, what did you do today?" She always seemed to want to know about his day first.

"Well, I, uh...." He scratched his head as he remembered the events from the day. "This new flower shop opened next door."

"Wow, really?!" She seemed genuinely excited, and Dipper smiled. He like that about his sister. "That's so cool!"

"Actually, I broke a vase and knocked over a flower stand, so we're not exactly on the right foot right now."

Mabel giggled. "Good job, Dipper!"

He frowned. "Yeah, thanks. How's traveling?"

"It's going great! We're visiting his family in Canada right now."

"Wow, really? Save some syrup for me!"

"Sure thing, bro." Some voices were heard in the background. "I better get going now. Miss ya bro!"

Dipper smiled sadly. "Miss you, too." She hung up before he could, and he put the phone down and sighed before he noticed that Soos had left five missed calls twenty new text messages.

Confused, he opened them up.

7:18PM: "Hey dude, i'm here and ready to pick you up whenever."  
7:34PM: "If you want to like stay out in town longer just tell me dude."

Then there were a whole bunch of messages that asked where he was, and he felt more and more guilty. The most recent message was from two hours ago, at 10:48. Looking at the time, it was 12:30AM.

Quickly, he called Soos to pick him up. It took a minimum 10 minutes for him to get there, and Dipper locked up after shutting off all fans, grabbing his hat and sweater, and went home with Soos.

 

Everyone was up at 5 the next day since there was supposed to be a couple bus loads of tourists. Dipper lazily flopped into a chair and yawned as he ate some toast he made. Grunkle Stan walked in slowly, with Waddles moving right past him.

"Geez, how long do pigs live anyways? What has it been, like, ten years?" He scratched his back and yawned.

Dipper smiled as he fell asleep on top of half a toast and Soos walked in, donning the old fez that Stan used to wear.

"Everybody ready for a day of work?" he asked cheerfully. Stan grumbled out a response and Dipper snored. "Rise and shine, Dipper!" He shook the man awake, plopping his cap on his head.

He looked up sleepily and got out of his chair, stretching high above his head. Grabbing his sweater off the chair, he put it on and walked out to Soos' car to be dropped off at the tattoo parlour.

Once he waved Soos goodbye, he sat in front of the door for a quick nap when he heard cheerful whistling from the shop next to him. Opening his left eye, he looked at Bill, who seemed to pay no mind to him at all. He was watering the flowers outside his shop.  
Today he wore a white dress shirt, a black vest and pants, and the same bowtie and hat from the day before. Dipper took a moment to study how he looked.

Bill was tall and slender, with tanned, even skin. His one eye that showed was cat-like and blue, and his legs seemed to take up 90% of his height. His fingers were holding the watering can delicately, as though it was so fragile he could wreck it at any moment.

His eye looked up and he stopped his whistling to smile and wave fondly at Dipper. "Good morning, Pine Tree!" he singsonged.

Dipper grumbled out a 'morning to him before closing his eye and breathing the morning air in deeply before standing up to walk into the shop.

Just before he stepped in, he noticed a flower attached to the door handle. He looked up to say something but the dapper man was gone. Dipper huffed in annoyance, though he did take the flower in with him.

He looked at a card attached to the stem which had a name attached to it: Camellia. He furrowed his eyebrows to remember what the white flower meant, but nothing came to mind.

Shrugging, he put the flower down next to the cash register and he turned the closed sign around to say open, and sat down, waiting for customers to show up.

 

There were plenty of gullible tourists that wanted tattoos, and there was one flower fanatic lady who came in with her girlfriend. As she was paying, the fanatic looked at the flower and smiled.

"Do you know what this flower means?" Dipper asked cautiously.

The girl nodded. "I'm actually surprised, you know, since Camellias aren't supposed to be in flower shops, but if you give a white one to someone, you think they're adorable!"

Dipper's stomach twisted in knots as he put money in the register and waved them goodbye.

Once the rush was over, he walked over to the shop next door. When he entered, Bill turned around with a smile on his face.

"My, what a surprise! Hello there, Pine Tree!" He seemed to purr out the nickname.

"Why did you give me the Camellia?" Dipper asked slowly. He took a deep breath. "Why do you think i'm adorable?"

Bill's smile faltered for a second, but returned in full bloom. "Why do you ask, Dipper? Is it because you think you're not?" He walked forward briskly to stand nose to nose with Dipper. "Because you're not." He laughed when he saw Dipper's confused face. "That's the joke, kid! Florist jokes! Think of it as me saying I think you're 'cool', now stop asking questions and get out of here!" He quickly shooshed Dipper out and turned back to what he was doing.

Dipper shrugged Bill's weirdness off and walked back into his hot, humid shop.

 

The next day, Dipper got a yellow Tulip and a white Violet. He paid no attention to them and set them next to the Camellia from the day before that was seemingly still alive.

That day was another slow day, and still, he somehow managed to get a few dollars throughout it. Every minute felt like an hour to him, and his sister failed to answer him when he called. Sighing, Dipper stood up, deciding to close early, and as he walked out, he noticed Bill sitting on a bench outside the flower shop, simply dozing off.

Dipper hesitated, thinking, before he walked silently into the shop to look at the book which had flowers and their meanings. He looked up the tulip first, and just before he could see the meaning, the book slammed shut. He jumped back in alarm before looking into the one eye of Bill Cipher.

He had black gloves on today, and the same outfit from yesterday, and there was a warning look in his ete. "We're closed, Pine Tree," he said coolly. Dipper backed up, careful of any vases or flowers this time, and managed to flee a painful scenario.

Once he was on the road, he brought back his cool, tattooed demeanor, trying hard not to think much about those flowers or Bill Cipher.

 

In the morning, Dipper decided to apologize to Bill, so he took a deep breath and walked into the flower shop early in the morning. Since there was no one there, Dipper was about to turn around and leave when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

Turning back, Dipper caught sight of Bill's one eye. "Did you miss me so much you had to come in early just to see me?" he asked in a seemingly innocent voice. He was wearing all black today, and had a red Chrysanthemum in his left hand.

"Actually, I came here to apologize." Dipper gulped and looked at the ground.

Bill turned away and picked a red tulip. "I know. And I forgive you."

He looked up in surprise as he turned to another bunch of flowers. "Y-you do?"

"Yes." He picked a red carnation. "All I ask of you is that you never throw these flowers away." The Daffodil was next.

"Uh." Dipper felt a little uncertain as Bill chose a Gloxinia to add to the growing bouquet of flowers.

The Jonquil was last as Bill turned and held out his hand. "Good. Then let us shake on it." He leaned in closer as Dipper hesitantly took his hand. "Say it."

"I, uh, promise to never throw these flowers out." They shook on it, and Bill handed him the bouquet before giving him a proper vase.

"Have fun my little Pine Tree," he singsonged with his huge cheshire grin.

Before Dipper could leave, he spoke again.

"Why not join me for coffee later? How about after work you and I get to know eachother?"

Dipper looked back at him. "Sure," he mumbled, and walked outside with his vase of flowers. He walked into his own shop and added the other flowers to his collection. As he looked at them, he realized that Bill could be saying anything, and shuddered.

 

He closed up early again after not having much luck at all, and sighed. He just wanted to sleep for two years.

"Ready, Pine Tree?" Bill startled him as he spoke.

Dipper bit back a sigh of regret and annoyance as he remembered what he said to Bill earlier that day.

"Where do you want to go? Taco Bell? An old coffee shop? Oh! I know! There's a 24/7 small-time restaurant within walking distance. They have everything there! It all tastes so delicious, too! Oh! I almost forgot!" He held out a flower he had in his hand. "For you, Pine Tree."

Dipper stared at it before slowly taking it in his own hand. "What is it?"

"A Gardenia," Bill answered matter-of-factly. "Now come on, then. The sooner we do this the sooner I get to know you!"

"And the sooner I get to sleep," Dipper added below his breath.

Before he knew it, he was sitting across from Bill in a very fancy restaurant that almost wasn't fancy at all.

"So tell me," Bill began,"what is your favorite tattoo you've done so far?"

Dipper thought for a moment. "Well, this one time a guy game in and wanted his entire back tattooed a design that he created. However, he asked me to do it in the silhouette of a bear head. It took a long time to sketch it on paper, and even then it wasn't as good as he wanted. So when I started, I had to start good, you know? I had to use white ink for the outline, then filled it with black. In the end, it looked so amazing, and the guy gave me a $50 tip." He looked up with a small smile as he reminisced. "That was before I moved here. Now I barely get a customer. It's mostly tourists and the odd teenager, but yeah, not much business here in Gravity Falls." He looked back at Bill, whom he was surprised to see so interested in what he said.  
"So what's your favorite flower?"

Bill blinked in surprise then leaned back in thought. "Well," he began with a shaky breath. "I guess it was when I began collecting flowers I kept looking at this one flower, and when I finally got it, I realized how special it was." He looked at Dipper with a smile. "It's called an orange mock, and it means deceit. It's special because it reminds us all that we can't always trust eachother and what we may see."

Dipper found that odd, but found it neat nonetheless. "What made you want to sell flowers?"

Bill looked up in thought. "Well, let's see, after I collected so many flowers, I found out that I liked to share my knowledge of them with others, and so I bought a store, set up shop, and sold my flowers." He smiled at Dipper. "What about you?"

"My sister, Mabel, left me all alone here so she could travel with her tattooed boyfriend. I am good at it, so I can easily get tips, but when she first got me the job, I sucked at it. Now, what do you know, practice makes perfect."

Bill nodded, then looked up as their drinks were delivered.

As Dipper sipped his water, he caught Bill staring intently at him. He almost choked, and water dripped down his chin.

"Here, let me get it for you." Bill took a napkin and swiftly wiped up the liquid.

"Uh, th-thanks," Dipper said in shock.

Bill smiled. "No problem, Pine Tree."

Dipper stared at Bill as he realized that the way Bill had interest in him was the same as his interest in flowers. As in, he seemed to study him in such a way that he would be categorized, and when Bill had wiped his chin, he was delicate, as though he would fall apart at any second. As Dipper gave a small smile to Bill, the dapper man’s own grin grew.

The waiter came by to get their order of food, and Dipper looked down at his menu in thought.

“We’ll both get a share of your finest ice cream, actually,” Bill’s voice told the waiter. Dipper looked up in surprise as the waiter laughed and took their menus.

“Skipping straight to the dessert, eh? Well, tonight, we have our specially made vanilla ice cream, in the shape of our gorgeous-”  
“That’ll be all,” Bill interrupted, then waved him away. The waiter nodded and walked off.

“Shouldn’t we eat food first?” Dipper asked.

Bill looked back at him. “Why, Pine Tree, ice cream is food, isn't it?”

Dipper shook his head and smiled. After a few minutes of silence, the waiter came back with a bowl of ice cream shaped like a flower.

“So that’s why you chose this place!” Dipper exclaimed as Bill grinned even wider than seemed humanly possible. They both grabbed a spoon and, after a minute of admiring all the work put into this masterpiece, began to dig in.

Just a few bites in and Dipper’s phone began to ring. He hurriedly searched his pockets. Bill shook his head in disappointment. “On the phone while out on a date? You should be ashamed of yourself!”

Dipper glared at him, and before he told him that this wasn’t a date, he answered. “Hey, Soos.”

“Hey buddy. I know you’re out right now, but we’ve got a problem here at the mystery shack.” His voice seemed to be in a panic.

“What’s wrong?” Dipper asked worriedly. Bill looked at him intensely, as though he was concerned with what was going on.

Soos took a deep breath before he began. “It’s Stan.”

Dipper stood up in panic. “I’ll be right over.” He hung up quickly and turned to Bill apologetically. “Sorry. Something happened and I have to go.”

Bill nodded solemnly. “I understand, Pine Tree. I’ll see you tomorrow.” He could barely get out any words before Dipper left and he sighed, looking down at his lap.

 

Dipper called Wendy, whom he was still friends with, and met up with her at the dirt road. She picked him up and they sped up to the Mystery Shack. Dipper jumped out of the car just as they arrived and ran up to the door, sprinting through it and going to where he could see Soos standing in front of the TV.

Just as he entered he heard Stan say, “Don’t worry about me. I’m fine!” Stan was on the ground, holding his side, his face in a grimace.

“Dipper! Thank goodness you’re here!” Soos looked at him in relief. “I haven’t got anything out of him. He walked in and just collapsed, holding his side. He won’t let me take a look at it at all.”

Wendy came in just then. “Then it might be something bad. I’ll call the hospital.” She took out her phone and quickly dialed it.

Dipper walked over and leaned next to his Great Uncle. “Grunkle Stan, let me see.” His voice was stern, and it took a moment before Stan slowly lifted his arm. He shut his eyes in pain as he showed Dipper a red arm. Dipper quickly took his sweater off and applied pressure to a thankfully small stab wound. “What happened?”

“The kid was trying to shoplift, and I thought I could scare him off.” He gave a small laugh before clenching his teeth in pain. “Guess i’m not as young as I used to be.”

“Don’t worry, Grunkle Stan, Wendy is calling for help.”

“Who said I was worrying?” He gave Dipper a small smile before grimacing again. “Didn’t think the kid would have a knife with him anyhow.”

They were silent as they waited, and the next thing he knew, Dipper was standing outside, watching the vehicle which held his Great Uncle drive away, lights flashing, to the hospital. The cool night air nipped at his arms since his sweater was too bloody for him to wear. Wendy waved goodbye and left, giving her condolences to him as she did so.

“Hey, dude, you should come inside. It’s too cold out here.” Soos gestured inside, and Dipper sighed sadly. He turned away from the open night and walked inside slowly. First thing he would do in the morning would be to call Mabel and tell her what happened.


	4. The Peaceful Tree Place

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Soos leaves town and Dipper needs a ride to and from work. He accepts Bill's offer and is lead to a special place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After like years of not posting anything, here's the next chapter. I was feeling happy and pleasant, so my mood gets put into the chapter. The end, at least. Also Bill uses his powers to keep the garden in perfect condition. The temperature at least. Thank you all for the comments as well! It made me so happy and so motivated the completion of this chapter. Please tell me what you think of this chapter! Also I want to know if you guys like the garden as well.

Dipper let out an exasperated sigh as he tried for the fifth time that morning to call his sister. He couldn't understand why she wasn't picking up. She usually picked up within the first ring. He hoped she was okay.

He put his phone down on the desk in front of him and looked up in thought. He needed to relax. He has been worrying about his great uncle all night, and he was losing sleep. He sighed and closed his eyes. A quick nap wouldn't hurt, right?

He somewhat heard the door open, and opened an eye to see Bill walk in with a happy smile. Grunting, he stretched his arms high above his head and sat up straight.

"Hey there, Pine Tree!" Bill greeted with a wave. He put a flower in the vase next to the register. The card read 'Arbutus' in fancy swirly letters.

"Why do you give me flowers?" Dipper asked.

Bill shrugged. "Might as well share the things I love!"

Dipper looked at his clothes and saw he was wearing a pink vest overtop a white shirt. His dress pants were white and so were his shoes. The only things that stayed the same were his bowtie and top hat.

"But why? Do you want a free tattoo or something?"

Bill's face paled. His smile was small now. "N-no, Pine Tree. I, ah, i'm not one to allow others to stick needles in me. In fact, I don't like being touched at all." He scratched his neck, acting awkwardly for the first time. He laughed, then regained his composure. "I'm going to head back now. Stay gold, ponyboy!" He then sprinted out the door, leaving Dipper to stare at him in confusion.

"What a weirdo," Dipper muttered to himself. He laid back and closed his eyes again, hoping nobody else came in for the time being.

 

When he woke up next, his phone was ringing. Without checking who it was, or even listening to the ringtone, Dipper answered groggily. "Mabel!"

"Uh, actually, it's Soos. The hospital just called to say that Stan was going to be alright, and that the stab wound wasn't deep."

"That's great!" Dipper was relieved. He didn't know what he would do if Grunkle Stan wasn't going to be okay. "When is he coming home?"

"Apparently, he wanted to stay there. I just went and sure enough, he was fast asleep, so I just left him there. I'm going back later, but right after that I have to go to another town for a couple of days. I'm going to be packed up and everything. I will be visiting my cousin so my phone will have to be turned off."

Dipper's shoulders dropped. That would not only mean he'd have to walk, but with the distance, he'd have to get up earlier and go to bed later. Would he even be able to visit Stan?

"That's cool, Soos."

"See you in a few days bro!"

"Yeah, see you." He hung up and sighed louder than he intended to.

"Something wrong, Pine Tree?"

Dipper screamed when he saw Bill. Just when did he arrive? And how long had he been standing there for?

Bill snickered and bowed apologetically. "Sorry to scare you there, Pine Tree." He smiled and placed his hands on the desk. "Anything wrong?"

Dipper hesitated for a second before he spoke. "My Grunkle Stan is in the hospital right now for being stabbed, and my friend, Soos, is leaving for a couple of days so I won't be getting any rides. My friend Wendy can't give me any because she lives on the completely other side of town, and I don't have any other friends to give a ride."

Bill pointed to himself. "Am I not your friend, Pine Tree?"

Dipper raised his eyebrows and stuttered as he spoke. “I, uh, I barely know you! I shouldn't be getting rides with a stranger!”

Bill smirked. “What about that date then, eh?”

“I-it wasn't a date!” Dipper grew flustered.

“Then why would you otherwise eat with me if I were a complete stranger to you?” He tilted his head and smiled widely.

Dipper sighed and gave in. “Fine. But I don’t think we live- “

Bill clapped his hands together loudly. “Great! Now, what should I give you for this special occasion?”

“It’s not an occa- “ Before Dipper could protest, Bill grabbed his hand and dragged him towards the door.

“Come on, Pine Tree! You barely get any customers anyways, so a couple seconds of fresh air won’t do you harm!”

“W-wait! Where are we going?!” Dipper tried to call out to him but as soon as they were out the door, Bill turned to the left and entered his shop.

“I just need to find....aha!” To Dipper’s surprise, Bill picked up what looked to be a bowl with small pebbles and water. Bill was smiling, but it seemed more pleasant than usual.

Confused, Dipper watched as he moved aside a case of beautiful red and white flowers, and walked out a back door. Dipper hurriedly followed him, and gasped at what he saw.

Before him was a garden with a white picket fence surrounding it. Even in this heat, the flowers and insects flourished in every corner. In fact, no heat seemed to reach this place, and it was at the perfect temperature for a flourishing garden. There was a bee’s nest in a tree in the very center, and the leaves were greener than anything he had seen before. Butterflies dotted many flowers and some dragonflies rested overtop a small pond just below the tree. The flowers were not organized and were everywhere, but that made it much more beautiful. On the other side of the tree a small wooden bench sat in green shade. As Bill sat down a yellow butterfly rested atop his head. Dipper tried to walk forward but was staring in awe at everything, so his legs would not move.

Some fuzzy dandelions seemed to dance in an unseen wind, their seeds floating through the air. Dipper’s nose tickled and he sneezed. Out of his daze, he managed to walk towards the tree, stepping around it to sit next to Bill.

Bill set the small bowl down next to a small seemingly dead bee.

“Sometimes,” he softly whispered, “the bees get tired, and when they don’t drink enough water for their energy they’re downed; but if you give them some water....” As he spoke, the bee drank and lifted itself up, already going to the next flower.

Bill smiled at Dipper. “As you can see, my dear Pine Tree, there are some things worth celebrating. And sometimes, the celebration can be quiet and peaceful.” He stood up. “Shall we head out?” He held out his hand to Dipper.

Dipper smiled and nodded, in his calm, peaceful, semi-daze yet again. He took Bill’s hand and walked to the door, and, looking back, left the peaceful, quiet place.


	5. Viscaria

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dipper and Bill drink tea from very peasant-like mugs and Dipper completes ruins the taste. Later on they listen to some Tom Jones.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Viscaria: Will you dance with me?"  
> Should probably start naming chapters after the main flower focus, eh?
> 
> Anyways so I just came up with the idea that Bill is really sophisticated but dances like a dork okay now good night.

“What was that place?” Dipper asked. He was back at the Mystery Shack with Bill, both home early from work since there were no customers that day.

“My garden, of course!” Bill stated matter-of-factly.

Dipper snorted in response. He got two cups out as he waited for the water to boil. Bill had insisted on drinking green tea. “I know that. Why was there so many insects and butterflies? Isn’t the heat too much for them?” He looked back at him and saw his gloved fists clench on the table.

“It isn’t hot in my garden,” he muttered, grimacing as he spoke. Then he regained his composure and smiled at Dipper. “Just a tiny bit of sugar in my tea, please.”

The water boiled just at that minute and Dipper poured it onto the tea bags in the cups. They were actually mugs since Grunkle Stan wasn’t the fancy sort of guy, but Bill didn’t seem to mind.

As Bill stirred his tea slowly with the spoon Dipper gave him, he watched as he put some coffee cream in and five spoons of sugar. Bill frowned at him.

Dipper looked him in the eye as he stirred clumsily. “What?”

Bill just shook his head and sipped his tea, his lips twitching up a bit at the burn on his tongue.

Dipper shook his head and waited for his tea to cool down. Out of habit, he reached into his pocket for his phone, but then his face paled.

Bill tilted his head at him. “Something wrong, Pine Tree?”

“My phone,” Dipper stammered. “I left my phone in the shop.”

“Didn’t you lock up?”

Dipper nodded. “I did. But what if Mabel calls me?”

As Dipper stood up, Bill looked him in the eye. “You can leave it until tomorrow.” Dipper hesitated. “Sit,” the man said in a cool, harsh voice. Dipper immediately sat down, and began to sip his tea. More like gulp it down.

He looked at the time on the clock on the wall. It was 9 ‘o clock. “What time are leaving at?”

Bill stood up politely and tipped his top hat. “Right now, i’m afraid. Don’t worry, my little Pine Tree. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Dipper opened his mouth to protest, but stopped himself. He watched as Bill stepped outside and got inside his vehicle. A pretty old beat-up truck. It still ran smoothly, however. Dipper could still remember the pollen scent the truck had in it. The seats were comfortable, too. It still had those old-fashioned roll-up windows, though. Drove Dipper half mad.

He sighed and got up, putting the mugs in the sink. Walking up the stairs, he realized he missed the garden he saw earlier, and wondered if anyone else had ever seen it before. In the attic, he opened up his sketchbook and began to sketch with one of his pencils. He didn’t know what he was sketching until he finally looked at it when he finished. It was a flower. A beautiful one. He turned to the next page and decided to sketch out a garden gnome. He enjoyed drawing those creepy bastards, though he has forgotten where he had seen them from.

He fell asleep drawing a very detailed eye, one with the light sketch of a triangle around it. He was too sleepy to have comprehended what he was drawing at the time, and as he slept, a particular flower shop owner was tending to his garden.

Fireflies dotted all around him, like tiny stars, and Bill sighed deeply. He breathed in the night air, and heard crickets chirping all around him. Standing up after a good twelve minutes of relaxation, he waved his hand and the fireflies lifted themselves out into the sky and towards the Mystery Shack. They went into the attic through the open window and lit it up, though Dipper was unable to see this. He dreamed of tiny stars all around him, with Bill guiding him through them to who-knows-where.

 

In his shop, Dipper put down his magazine. It had been a couple of hours since Bill had dropped him off, and he hadn’t gotten a flower yet. This seemed odd to him, and he wanted to find out why. Getting up, he walked out the door and into the blaring heat. He cursed himself for wearing any amount of clothes today and went up to the open door of the flower shop. He was about to say something when he noticed the music playing.

He recognized the beat as his sister had listened to it before. It’s Not Unusual by Tom Jones. However, it wasn’t the music which stopped him in the door. In the center of the room, Bill was sweeping. Not exactly sweeping, though, since he was actually dancing. Not only that, he was singing into the broom handle. He lifted his hand to the side and then swung himself around the broom handle just as the song was finishing, and then opened his eyes to see Dipper staring at him from the doorway. What’s New Pussycat began playing and, instead of being embarrassed, Bill dropped the broom and ran up to Dipper, grabbing his hand and dragging him in.

Bill forced him into dancing a sped-up, more spinny waltz in which Dipper didn’t know what he was doing. He also didn’t know what to make of this, and though he protested, he gave in and danced with Bill. Bill laughed and that made him laugh as well. That was when Dipper landed his heel on the broom and tripped. Due to some sort of spin for Dipper to catch himself on the ground, he somehow managed to land on top of Bill just as the song ended and It’s Not Unusual began playing again.

Dipper looked at Bill in surprised and then his cheeks grew very hot as he sat up as fast as he could. He rubbed the back of his head as Bill sat up as well.

“Never knew you were so clumsy, Pine Tree!” He laughed and poked Dipper playfully.

“H-hey, you were the one who left the broom in the middle of the floor!”

“You’re acting like a little kid.” Bill grinned widely.

“I am not!” Dipper whined.

Bill patted his arm. “Geez, i'm just playing with ‘ya! Come on, stand up. I actually have to get some work done today.” He stood up and shut off the music. He held out a hand for Dipper.

He reaching up to Bill and managed to stand up. His legs were still shaky from the dancing.

“You’re not half bad, Dipper.”

“Well neither are you, Bill.” He looked over at Bill and saw he was wearing a white dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up. His dress pants and everything else were black. The shirt had revealed his forearms, which, to Dipper’s astonishment, were quite big. Big as in he could tell that Bill probably worked out in his spare time.

Bill pushed some flower pots aside and put up some signs decorated with tiny flowers that looked cute. It made Bill cute, too. Dipper shook his head. Bill wasn’t cute, he was a man. Men aren’t cute. Men are hot.

He slapped his palm to his forehead. What was he thinking? Did Bill poison the air or something?

“Something wrong, Pine Tree?” Bill had taken his gloves off and was now rolling up the sleeves even more. This made Dipper more flustered than before.

“I’m fine,” he replied. He looked away and began to study a flower called Viscaria.

Bill smiled and began to hum to himself as he reorganized some of the flowers. After a few minutes, he turned to Dipper and booped him on the nose. Dipper looked at him in surprise then looked at his feet, shuffling them.

“You should probably get back to your shop there, Pine Tree.”

“Y-yeah,” Dipper muttered, and began to walk out the door.

“Thank you for the dance,” Bill shouted at him as he left.

“Thank you too, I guess,” Dipper whispered beneath his breath. He smiled, then groaned as he realized how much hotter he was.


	6. Monkshood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dipper shares some wisdom with his great-uncle Stan, then shares a touching moment with a triangle.

“Hey, Grunkle Stan.” Dipper smiled at his Great-uncle.

“Eh? What do you want, kid?” Stan was staring up at the roof. “And where’s Soos? At the Mystery Shack?”

“Actually, no. There’s been no tourists either so you don’t need to worry about that. Soos is at his cousin’s for the week, okay?” Dipper tried to see what emotion Stan felt, but his face stayed neutral.

“I can’t believe I was stabbed.” He closed his eyes and sighed deeply. “Maybe I should just stop with the Mystery Shack afterall.”

Dipper panicked. “No! You can’t do that! Where will Soos work? Where will the tourists go?!”

“Hey, hey, don’t go crying everywhere. Look, kid, i’m not giving up the Mystery Shack, just might stop working myself. Soos can own the Mystery Shack, not me.”

“But hasn't the Mystery Shack been your pride for years now?”

Stan snorted. “It’s a business. Hey, kid, don’t tell Mabel what happened, okay?”

Dipper furrowed his eyebrows. “Why not?”

The old man scratched his head. “She cares too much, you know? Now, I don’t want anyone worrying about me, so you and Soos are enough. Got it? Now get out of here.”

 

Dipper gave a small smile and nodded. He turned around and sidestepped a nurse who came in. Dipper looked sideways and saw that she was holding a vase. A card attached to the only flower in the vase read “Gravity Falls Florist”, and just before he was out the door, he saw that the flower read “Monkshood”. Dipper waited outside the door as the nurse put the vase down, checked on Stan, and walked out.

“Um, excuse me? Miss?”

The nurse turned and smiled at him. “Yes?”

“That flower, where did you get it?”

“Oh! From the lovely man that runs the new florist in town! I didn’t know what to get, so he recommended a Monkshood. The flower looks pretty, doesn’t it? I told the man about how I wanted to get a poor old soul something nice, and he said that the flower he chose was perfect! Don’t you think purple fits?”

Dipper nodded as he looked to the side. The flower didn’t seem all that right to him. He thanked the nurse for her time, then left.

He walked over to his tattoo shop, though it was later in the day, and looked over at the assortment of flowers he had. Beautiful, yes, but still something seemed off. He pulled up an old laptop from under the desk, plugged in the charger for it, and opened it up. It took forever to load, but he finally had google up. Looking over at his flowers, he typed in one of the names and just as the page was loading up, the laptop crashed. A single yellow triangle triangle lit up on the screen, then vanished just as the door to the shop opened up.

“You’re open, or just surfing the web?” The voice that came from the open door was none other than the florist himself.

Dipper slammed the laptop shut, sweat forming at his brow. “Ah, Bill! You scared me!”

He offered an encouraging smile, then shut the door behind him. He held out a yellow flower. “A Begonia, then. My apologies.” When Dipper wouldn’t take it, he shrugged and put it with all the flowers. “I noticed you were here and thought i’d stop by and say hello. You want a ride tonight?”

“Uh.” An idea then popped into his head. “No, thank-you. In fact, I might just stay with a friend overnight. You should get going. I, uh, I think you might have a customer soon.”

Bill clapped his hands together. “Splendid! I’ll be seeing you tomorrow, then. Good day, Pine Tree!” He bowed low to the ground, then turned and left.

Dipper let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. Tonight, he decided, he would break into the flower shop and take a good look at the meanings of the flowers.

He then got a call from his sister.

“Hey bro bro!”

“Mabel! Boy, is it good to hear your voice again!”

She giggled. “So, tell me. Any cute girls yet? Cute boys? Cute animals?!”

“Well,” Dipper began. He hesitated.

Mabel gasped. “Who is it? What’s their name? Do they like Waddles?”

Dipper laughed nervously. “Well, he-”

“Listen, would you? There’s nothing special, but it’s the florist next door, and he keeps giving me flowers.”

The other line went silent, then Mabel made a little peeping noise. “Have you two gone on a date yet?”

“Well, I wouldn’t call it a date, but-”

“Dipper.”

“What?” Mabel became unusually serious all of a sudden.

“If he gives you flowers, that means that whatever it was, it is called a date. If you two are either alone or in a restaurant, then it’s a date.”

“Well, we went to a restaurant, and this garden he has-”

Mabel basically screamed in his ear. “His name. Scale of cuteness. Pigs. I need details, bro!”

“Okay, okay! Sheesh. Stop screaming, oh my god. On a scale of 1 to 10, he acts like a 5 or a 6. He is sort of attractive, but not cute. I think he might like pigs.”

Mabel gasped. He can almost feel her pinching his cheek. “He’s perfect. But what about his name? My boyfriend wants to-”

“Hello? Mabel?” The line was dead. For no reason at all. His blood ran cold as he waited. Then there was a loud buzzing in his ear, and as he dropped the phone on top of the laptop, he saw a shadow run across the window. A triangle silhouette followed. Dipper held his head in his hands, eyes wide. There was an odd chill in the room, and he felt like he was being watched. His breathing quickened and the room was closing in on him.

He jumped up and ran out the door, and to his surprise, it was already night. He remembered what he was going to do, but he needed to give himself the time to breathe. He closed his eyes and began to calm down. When he felt he was ready, he stood straight and walked over to the florist’s door. Surprisingly, it was unlocked. He guessed that nobody would rob a flower shop. Who would?

Once in, he walked over to the desk. It was open to a blank page. He looked to the right of it and saw a pen. It looked like a child’s light-up pen, too. He snorted. Who would’ve thought Bill was a child?

He turned the book to different pages, and found Begonia. There were several other flowers too, some with many different meanings, but Begonia had just one. “Beware”. Dipper shuddered. What was that supposed to mean?

He skimmed through, then found one that stuck out at him. It looked like what the nurse had. Monkshood. He looked over, and gulped. It also meant beware, and also that a dangerous foe was near. Why would Bill want to give it to Grunkle Stan? There was a star beside it, and he noticed that several other flowers, including Begonia, had small stars next to them. All of these flowers meant something dark. Dead leaves, sadness. Carnation yellow, you have disappointed me. Lily orange, hatred. It was then that he came upon blank pages. He looked back at the children’s pen, and something turned the light bulb on in his mind. He tried shining the light in the pen, but it wouldn’t light up. He went to the other side of the desk and opened drawers. He found a black light and shone it on the pages.

There were descriptions and fully colored pictures of flowers he had never seen. Some had eyes, some had teeth, some had limbs. Some attached themselves to people and caused excruciating pain, others were found in the minds of people. Dipper began to feel sick, then he found a page that had his name on it.

The lights turned on and Dipper looked up to see a furious Bill staring at him.

“B-Bill! I’m sorry, I-”

“Get out.”

“I’ll make it up to yo-”

“I said get out!” Bill seemed to glow a red hue, his gloved hands looking like claws.

Dipper was too terrified to move. That was when some flowers near Bill began to wilt. Dipper’s vision began to blur, and as he blinked, he thought Bill looked like a triangle. A giant, red, triangle.

He woke with a start. He was in his tattoo parlor, outside the window looking a tiny bit brighter than when he had fallen asleep. He must have passed out that. He was going to find out the meanings of the flowers, but didn’t. He couldn’t believe he had fallen asleep like that. He felt weary from the nightmare he had, but he couldn’t remember it. Weird. he shrugged the feeling off and looked at his flowers.

They had wilted to being unrecognizable. He sighed. Flowers always seemed to die when he had to take care of them. Like fish.

He groaned and flopped his head down on his closed laptop. If he tried hard enough, he could possibly fall asleep before Bill arrived. Maybe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dipper shared a touching moment with a triangle, as in he is knocked out by an angry dorito.
> 
> Don't worry, Bill forgives Dipper. Now we just have to wait until chapter 70 for him to speak to our Pine Tree again.
> 
> Next chapter will hopefully be soon! There's going to be, like, an entire about Bill in the future. And his love for flowers. Got to plan that out, though.


	7. Pansy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stan comes home early, and its a week before Summerween. Also Mabel calls with the news of Dipper's new 'friend'.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Took a year. Congratulations. To me.
> 
> Woops there goes the words 'cute' thrown around. Thank you Elvis.

Bill was....well, he couldn't really say. He was worried that Dipper would find out about why he was here, but now he felt nothing. He sighed as he listened to the ticking of the clock above one of his bouquets. If Dipper had remembered him at all, he wouldn't want him to know how much of a failure he was. Now he used his powers too much, so he’d have to make due with what little he had left. Of course, his garden was still alive, but sadly when he knocked the tattoo artist out some of his flowers wilted. He expected the ones he gave him to, but not his garden. If only Dipper hadn't looked through his book. He couldn't even have his cane anymore until his powers charged up in a few days.

He looked up at the ceiling and grimaced. How was he ever going to live? He could only hope that his powers weren't taken away completely, otherwise he would return to his triangle form, and then trouble would stir. People looking for him would find him, and he would be powerless. Just a triangle doomed to gravity and mortality.

He took out a pocket watch and clicked it open, looking at the sill time, and then the picture next to it. Dipper wouldn't remember it, would he? It had been 10 years. He looked at it, looked at how happy Dipper was. At that moment, Bill had made friends with this human, but he was a human then, too. Before he was doomed to be a triangle, he had met Dipper. He was twelve back then, too. He and Dipper spent an entire summer figuring out the secrets of Gravity Falls, but then he-

He closed the pocket watch. He shouldn't think about the things he had done. He must only complete his punishment. Boy, he sure hoped Dipper wouldn't remember at all. He would think of him as a failure for sure.

 

Dipper walked into Stan’s room at the Mystery Shack and found him on his bed. “Grunkle Stan? How did you get in here?”

“Eh?” He looked at Dipper. “The nurse drove me. Why? Am I not allowed in my own house anymore?”

Dipper let out a small chuckle.

Stan grunted. “So who is this boy you’re dating? How much money does he have?”

Dipper’s face paled. “B-boy?”

“Yeah. I just got off the phone with Mabel an hour ago. The line went dead before you told her his name. So, money and name. That’s all I need to know.” He frowned. “No kids, either. As long as I get a straight answer from you, I’m happy.”

Dipper let out a nervous laugh. “Yeah, well, his name is-”

The phone began to ring and Stan answered it angrily. “What?! Can’t an old man get any sleep around here?”

Dipper slowly backed out as Stan began arguing with whoever was on the other line. He went downstairs and found Waddles looking up at the chair in front of the TV. Dipper picked him up and sat him down, then turned on the TV and sat on the floor to watch.

“And a new shop has opened in town recently! Its been open for a while, and has received many great reviews from Gravity Falls residents. Next to the Dable Tattoo Shop, the Gravity Falls florist has opened up.”

“Bill’s shop is on the news?” Dipper asked aloud. Waddles let out a tired oink in response.

“The florist’s name is Bill Cipher. He knows everything about flowers, and no matter what kind of flower, he’s got it. Alive, in this heat, too!”

Dipper laughed. “News. Always doing segments on everything!” Waddles oinked again.

“We did a little research on him, and boy, the facts we've found out!” The news lady brought up a vase of some Begonias. “When we talked to him today, he suggested that the entire world needed to see these Begonias. He says that they mean something very special, especially to an old friend he had. Now, some info we found on him was that he was here in Gravity Falls ten years ago for an entire summer.”

Dipper pointed at the screen like a child. “I did, too!”

The news lady laughed. “He said that all the people of Gravity Falls are what brought him back. What a dashing young lad, don’t you think, viewers?” She laughed again. She was new, of course. Unprofessional. “He told us ten years ago, during his summer stay, he met someone who awakened his love or flowers. He wouldn’t go into detail, of course, and our research has showed nothing. We did find out he is a huge fan of It’s Not Unusual by Tom Jones. In fact, a witness was going to buy some flowers, but as they arrived that the destination, some very controversial stuff happened. Here’s a video.” She giggled right before they showed the video.

It showed in through the big window right by the door, and, zooming in through the flowers, there was Bill dancing to It’s Not Unusual with the tattoo artist next door. Him. Dipper gulped as he looking over at Waddles nervously, who let out an oink at him.

The news lady giggled again. “Is there some budding romance going on? Someone I know went to get a tattoo and said they found flowers from the florist there! Of course, Bill only said they were complete strangers, but he was blushing, so who knows? Now, onto the controversial story about the man who divorced a pigeon and married a cow. Over to you, Gid-”

Dipper turned off the TV and put his head in his knees as he brought them up, his face blooming profusely.

“Geez, is this really what they put on TV these days?”

Dipper jumped and looked behind him at Grunkle Stan, but then covered his eyes again. Stan chose to not have a shirt on. Dipper did not feel very lucky.

“Get used to it, kid. Now, Bill Cipher is his name, eh?” He scratched his head. “Can’t say I've heard of him. Is that where the nurse got the flower?”

Dipper nodded slowly as he uncovered his eyes away from the horrendous sight.

Stan patted his shoulder. “Well, at least he seems nice. Just don’t do anything that Mabel would do.” He took a long look at Dipper before scratching his back and walking away. The young man sighed with relief and put his legs down, leaning back.

“I’m not dating him,” he muttered. Waddles let out a loud oink at him then fell asleep. Dipper snorted at him. “Old pig.”

 

The next day, Dipper looked at his calendar and saw that it was almost Summerween. He fist pumped the air and shouted a “Woo!” before patting Waddles on the head.

“Eh? What are you so happy about, kid? Isn’t it, like, two in the morning?”

“Grunkle Stan, it’s 6. In a week Summerween will come about and a lot of people like to get tattoos near Summerween, I would guess. Remember how much fun we had that one summer?”

Stan sighed and sipped from his cup of coffee, which he then spat out. “Sheesh, how old is this?”

“I think you made that coffee about two days ago,” Dipper stated.

Stan let out an enormous sigh, then walked to the sink and poured his coffee out. “We got any left?”

“No, you used the last of it, remember?”

Dipper walked over to the fridge and opened it. A fly, somehow alive, flew out and a moldy smell wafted through it. All that was left was some moldy cheese and a carton of expired milk. Stan leaned over to look inside.

“Guess we’re going shopping later.”

Dipper sighed and took his phone out of his pocket. He texted Bill to ask if he was picking him up when there was a knock at the door. He hurriedly opened it, expecting to see Soos, but instead Bill stood there, smirking at his phone.

“Oh, uh, hey, Bill,” Dipper stammered. “Didn't expect to see you this early.”

Bill smiled at him. “Why hello there! May I come in?”

“Oh, uh, sure.” Dipper moved aside to let the tall man in. He was wearing surprisingly casual clothes, a T-shirt that said something about kiss the moustache or cook the chef, and his pants were black sweatpants. “You, uh, look different.”

Bill laughed. “Well, thought I might just change up my look, you know?”

Dipper laughed too. From the kitchen he could hear Stan saying, “Not dating, ha! As if.” As he went to his room, Dipper gestured to the kitchen.

“Can I get you anything? Moldy cheese? Expired milk?”

Bill smirked as he walked up to the fridge and opened it. “Love your hospitality. Got any jam?”

“No, just those two. I have to go shopping later.”

“I have to go anyways,” Bill said as he turned towards him. “How about we take the day off, eh? Maybe even shop for Summerween decorations? I have a plan for my flowers already, but there's nothing like a severed head laying in a bush of Begonias, eh?” He laughed. “How about you go get dressed, pine tree? Don’t forget your cap! It looks cute on you.”

Dipper nodded and walked upstairs, flustered. Cute? Do friends usually call each other cute? Right before he reached the attic, he yelled down, “Not as cute as you!” Yes, he thought. They were just friends.


	8. Sweetpea

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They're not dating.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woops.
> 
> I headcanon that Mabel listens Elvis. Yes.

Dipper looked at the carton of apple juice in Bill’s hand. “50% off, eh?”

Bill nodded solemnly. “They’re usually five dollars. Guess how much they’re worth now?”

Dipper grabbed his head. “Please, no math this early in the morning.”

Bill laughed with a smirk. “No need to be in so much pain, Dipper! It says it right here: $2.50.” He looked over. “I’m going to buy another. I usually buy two, but i’ll buy four now! You can have two as well.”

“No thanks, i’m an orange juice kind of guy.” He looked at the price and gulped. The orange juice had went up. “Actually, maybe i’ll just try the apple juice. I’ll buy myself one.”

“That’s the spirit!” Bill grabbed Dipper’s shoulder and squeezed. When he took his hand away, Dipper’s shoulder felt somewhat colder than usual. He almost wished Bill would grab his shoulder again.

In Dipper’s cart he had a loaf of bread, jam, peanut butter, milk, coffee, and apple juice. Bill had four cartons of apple juice, twelve tea boxes, flower seeds, flower pots, and a severed head on a stick. Bill offered to pay for Dipper’s load, seeing as how he had to put the peanut butter and a loaf of bread back, but Dipper refused. Still, Bill gave him an extra five dollars for safe keeping, and insisted that he keep it.

When they got back to the shack, it was noon and Stan was sitting outside with sunglasses on. In boxers. Only boxers. Before Dipper could throw up, Bill dragged him inside and started to put away the groceries Dipper had bought.

As Dipper reached down to grab the apple juice, Bill did too, and they accidentally grabbed each other’s hands. Dipper blushed as he stood up quickly, but Bill seemed unfazed by it. He began humming a tune.

Dipper’s phone began to ring, and he answered it. “Hello?”

“Dipper! Is your boyfriend nearby? Can I talk to him?!” Mabel was shouting into the phone, so much that Bill could probably hear.

“Mabel, shush!” Before continuing, he walked outside. “He’s not my boyfriend, okay?”

“Suuuure he’s not. I heard from somebody that he came to pick you up today, and that he called you cute, and you said, and I quote, ‘Not as cute as you!’ Which, by my standards, is dating.”

Dipper paled. “Isn’t that what friends do?”

“Dipper, listen to me. Dude friends call eachother ‘bro’ and say ‘no homo’. Girls are the ones complimenting eachother. I think you’re dating him.”

“But does he know?” Dipper was frantic. If they were dating, and neither of them knew, were they actually dating?”

“Has he touched you or hugged you longer than two seconds?”

“Well, we kind of held hands when we were unloading groceries, but that’s different!”

“He knows.” Mabel seemed bored at this point, but still happy that Dipper was dating someone. Finally. “Hey, isn’t Summerween next week?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Well, isn’t there always that party? You could go with your boyfriend!”

Dipper hung up and held his head in his hands. “We’re not dating,” he whispered to himself.

Hands grabbed onto his shoulders and began rubbing softly. “Everything okay, pines?”

Dipper jumped and stand still. “Bill?”

Bill began to hum as he came in closer. “Yes, Dipper?”

“Are we dating?”

Bill stopped. “Do you think we are?”

“Well, everyone thinks we does, even I never thought we were.”

Bill leaned in closer. “Do you want to?”

Dipper began to get very hot in the face. “Maybe?”

“Was that a question?” Bill seemed to purr.

The sound of a camera alerted them to Soos’ presence nearby. “Haha, got them!” He texted the picture on his phone to Mabel.

Dipper blushed with anger and ran after Soos, trying to get his phone. “Delete that picture!”

“The damage is done, dude! You can’t do anything now! I’m sending it to the news networks!”

“That’s invading my privacy, jerk!”

Stan grumbled something to himself as he put in earbuds and listened to music from his time to block out the noise.

In Canada, Mabel is giggling at the picture Soos sent her. When she got back, she had to treat him to a Spice and Sugar Mabel Special Pancake Breakfast, shortened to SSMSP.


	9. The Clownfish

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This filler chapter introduces a pun that the author came up with while writing it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay so i am putting up a little filler chapter for now so that i can write another chapter for the circus one yet still have this seem updated. next chapter will be longer, i promise.
> 
> please enjoy this pun in the meantime

Dipper did manage to get Soos to delete it, of course. After Soos made Dipper promise to keep him up to date with his relationship. Of course, Dipper never saw what the big deal was. He didn’t think they were dating, but at the same time he knew they were. He just happened to be shirtless in the shop in dreadful heat when Bill walked in.  
“Oh, uh, Dipper,” he began, obviously flustered. “I, uh, brought you some water. You, uh, look like you need it.” His voice was getting higher and his blushing only made it much, much worse than it needed to be.

He sighed as he got up to take. “Thanks.” He got the idea out of the blue for this next line. “Thanks, cutie.” He thought cute was a platonic word. Of course he did.

Now, imagine Bill’s situation here: he is standing in front of his, well, possible boyfriend who is shirtless and just called him a cutie. Wouldn’t you crawl up, too? Not to mention that Dipper had the illuminati tattooed on his side. Mable did it, and, as a joke, she put arms, legs, and a top hat on it. Bill felt like his world was ending yet becoming so full.

Dipper, being the platonic friend he is, left him there on the floor as a customer came in. The lady from the TV that said they were together or something. Who keeps track of the TV nowadays? Not Dipper, that’s for sure.

She looked down at Bill on the floor. “Is he okay?”

“Yeah, now what’s up? Need a tattoo?”

She looked up and, of course, did not faint. Why would she? She’s not attracted to him. Hell, she’s not attracted to anyone. No point in her being that way at this point, but we don’t need two people on the floor.

“I actually wanted to ask you if you and, well, floorist here were dating.”

Dipper just about slapped her. He needed to make a No Puns Allowed sign. Also, who even asks that question? Nobody, that’s who. “We’re not. If that’s all, then go back and report on that tree that keeps beating that old man up.”

She frowned, turned, and walked out. Odd lady.

Bill, finally composing himself, stood up like nothing happened. “So, uh, Dipper, ahem. How about tonight we go on a hunt?”

Dipper looked at him with a confused look. “Like, hunt animals?”

Bill laughed. “No, my dear Pine Tree. A scavenger hunt. I have the map.”

Dipper leaned forward, interested. “Really? A map that leads to where?”

The man with the top hat smiled. “To your heart.”

Dipper threw a fish at him. A rubber fish; but still, a fish.


	10. Salmon Rose

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Salmon is for desire.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Its been like months.  
> So yes here it is the new chapter. Of ya'll want more then follow my art blog on tumblr: kai-the-small-bee  
> Shout out to Nervirat for being a nerd.

Summerween was finally here, and Dipper had decorated the shop to look like a haunted house. A skeleton overlooking the doorway, shrunken heads hanging from the roof, and vampire doormat that says “Velcome”, which is to mock what people think vampires are like. Bill had helped him pick out the decorations, and Dipper helped him with his. The day before Dipper and Bill had tea and coffee at the new cafe just down the road. They had friendly conversation, and now they were officially dating.

Dipper didn’t mind, not much had changed. In fact, he was glad that they were dating now. It meant that everything Bill does actually made sense, like the flowers, which Bill explained what they meant, and how Bill often comes over to his shop and offers advice on tea and where the best place is to relax.

Dipper looked at the time. 7:18 PM. He decided to stay open all night and take the day off tomorrow, giving all the teenagers and hip adults time to get creepy tattoos, which Dipper had put a discount on for the occasion. Bill was closing at 8 so that he could admire the potential rush of customers which Dipper will have.

Dipper, in the meantime, decided to call his sister and actually tell her that he and Bill were dating. He picked up the phone and called her.

“Dipper! What the heck? Why haven’t you called?” Mabel sounded both surprised and exhausted. “Also, perfect timing. We just finished our run. How are you? What’s the news on Bill? How is old Grunkle Stan doing? Has Wendy dropped by? How is Soos?”

“Mabel, slow down, I can only answer one question at a time!” Dipper sighed as he waited for Mabel to stop aimlessly listing away questions for him.

“Okay. Tell me about your new boyfriend, then!”

“Well, I guess we are dating now,” Dipper replied reluctantly. He wanted to wait a little bit because he couldn’t stand his twin’s screaming, but of course, since he hadn’t called for a while, it was still good to bring the most exciting news to the table first.

Mabel did scream, and boy, was it loud. She began giggling and excitedly jumping, which Dipper could audibly hear from the phone. He took his ear off to give him some hearing room until she calmed down.

“I knew it! So you two were dating! I want you guys to send me pictures. I also really want to hear everything!” Then, in a loud whisper, “Everything.”  
That sent shivers down Dipper’s spine. Everything? “Well, we only went on a date to the new cafe down the street. It’s really good! When you come back you have to try it.” Just then, he heard the door open. A customer? Quickly, Dipper sai, “A customer just walked in. Call you later!”

“But-” Dipper quickly ended the call. This would give him some breathing room. Looking up, he could see that it wasn’t a customer, but Bill.

Bill smiled at him. “Hey, Dipper.” He tilted his head. “Why aren’t you wearing your pine tree hat?”

Dipper shrugged at him. “I think it’s getting really old, you know? I wore it the whole summer, and then the whole school year. I stopped, but started wearing it when I came here. I think it’s just a little small on me now, too.”

Bill narrowed his eyes at him. “I think you look great with it on. Is it at the shack? I can go get it for you.” He turned for the door.

“No, no, it’s fine, really! I’m putting on a pirate costume soon too. I’m thinking I might close up around midnight, and maybe hang out with Wendy. We’re both going to be pirates. You can come too, you know.”

Bill spun around on his heel, a great big smile on his face. “That sounds great, Dipper! I actually have a pirate costume, too! I’ll be right back.” Before Dipper could say anything, Bill was out the door and out of sight, the setting sun casting an eerie glow onto the street in front of the shop.

Since it was still hot, Dipper walked outside and breathed in the summer cold. Watermelons lined the streets, and already kids were looking for treats. It was almost time for Dipper to change into his pirate costume, and he thought about how much of a coincidence it was that Bill had a pirate costume, too.

Walking back inside, he went to the back of the store and into the bathroom. He, Mabel, and Wendy had all drawn on the walls, and the mirror was still clean from that morning. He began to change into his costume, which he had stored back here for convenience, and just as he was about to pull on his pirate pants, he heard the front door open and footsteps running for the bathroom door. Just as Dipper was thinking of what to do if someone tried to kill him, the door opened and Bill stood in all his pirate glory.

Bill gaped at him. Dipper had taken his shirt and pants off, and his pirate pants were only halfway up his legs. He quickly pulled them up as a stunned Bill stood there, his face going red.

“D-D-Dipper, y-you should really l-lock your d-doors,” was all he managed to stutter out, and he slammed the door shut.

Dipper, embarrassed, put the rest of his costume on and walked out, seeing Bill twiddling his thumbs. He looked up and then looked down in guilt and embarrassment.

“Sorry about that, Dipper. I assumed that was just the tattoo room.” Even though he looked embarrassed, he looked bigger instead of smaller, like other people.

“It’s okay, Bill. Don’t worry about it. I, uh, I like your costume,” Dipper assured. In all honesty, Bill looked really good in a pirate costume. In fact, he almost looked too good. As in he looked hot. Dipper could only imagine what other outfits looked like on him.

Bill sat up straight. “I can help look after the shop tonight,” he said. He didn’t even question it; like he was the most the confident person in the room.

Dipper nodded. “As soon as someone walks in if I am already tattooing someone, just tell them to wait and then ring the bell so I know.”

Bill nodded with a smile.

 

As Dipper closed up, Bill looked around. It was odd to him that so many young human beings would decide to dress up in hot clothing in the summer just for candy, but then again, he never did it.

The meetup with Wendy was at the shack, and they planned to walk around and scare kids into buying from the Mystery Shack. It was Grunkle Stan’s idea, and they thought it would be fun. One of the things they would be doing is to say that they were cursed with the pirate’s curse and the only way to get rid of it was to buy an item from the Mystery hack, otherwise maggots would crawl out of their ears. Of course, Wendy would give them candy just to be nice.

Dipper waved to Wendy when he saw her. “Hey, Wendy!”

She waved back from where she was leaning. She had a Kit Kat in her mouth and bit a bit off, coming forward off of the Shack. “Hey. Who’s this?” She squinted at Bill, who looked very much like an actual pirate.

“Wendy, this is Bill, my uh, boyfriend. Bill, this is Wendy, former employee of the Mystery Shack. She still helps out a lot of the time.”

Bill nodded solemnly and held out a hand. “Pleasure.”

Wendy shook his gloved hand with her own. “Pleasure’s all mine. It’s always nice to meet one of Dipper’s friends once in a while. Ready to scare kids into giving us their money? Stan is paying us ten dollars each.”

“Ten dollars?” Dipper mock-gasped in surprise. “He told me it was five dollars!”

“I wasn’t told I was going to be paid at all,” Bill contributed. He found it odd that they were being paid to scare others into giving money, but he was alright with that. After all, he had heard that the Mystery Shack was doing a halloween discount. 5% off all merchandise, 10% if you were 12 and under.

“Well, come on you too, there’s an old pirate ship Stan rented out for tonight. It’s a little bit down the road, and we have to walk to get there because of trees and stuff. Stan already advertised how pirates are haunting the thing. Soos is going to be the guy who swabs the poop-deck, and we are going to be haunting different parts. We better hurry because the kids will be there any second now.”

It was a long walk, but they finally got there. Dipper rationalized that all the cuts they got from the branches would actually help out his image of a ghostly pirate.  
The ship itself was big, old, and leaned upwards slightly. Soos waved down from his spot.

“Hey, dudes, guess what! Stan let me rent out a monkey!” The monkey swung down from its perch on the crow’s nest and landed on Soos’ arm. “His name is Peter, and he was trained especially to be a pirate’s own buddy.”

Dipper smiled. Soos always did stuff like this. Then he remembered something. “Hey, Soos, when did you get back from wherever you went?” Dipper called up.

Soos shrugged. “Like a day ago. Come on up and i’ll give you the grand tour!”

There was a rope, which Wendy climbed, but for the weak-armed, there was also a ladder. Dipper was just lazy, but his arms were very strong, at least that’s what he convinced himself of.

When Dipper reached the top, Wendy and Bill were already up. Wendy was petting the monkey while Soos laughed, and Bill seemed to wait for him at the top. The dapper young ‘pirate' smiled at him.

Soos looked over and waved a hooked arm. "Hey dudes, this is how we're stationed: Wendy and I will cover the deck and captain quarters, and Bill and Dipper will be below the deck. Just wander around, spook some kids, and most of all, have fun." Soos winked and Bill held out his elbow.

"Shall we be heading off, Pirate Pines?" Dipper hooked his arm around Bill's.

They walked into the Captain's quarters and stepped carefully down the narrow, rickety steps. Their arms had to unlink in order for them both to walk down. The stairs creaked with every step, and the darkness made it hard to see. There was a misty glow at the bottom of the stairs, probably set there to give a ghostly feel. The wood on the walls looked like it was rotting, and as they reached the bottom, they could almost see insects crawling along the floor.

The creaking sounds and mist all made it seem like it was on the ocean, and Dipper shivered as a cool breeze came down from the cracks above. He adjusted his pirate hat and walked to the left, looking in the doors along the way.

The rooms were mostly dark and had a musty smell, and there were cots, desks, and dried out pen ink. There was one big room which looked like a dining room, and there were broken plates and glasses on the table with what seemed to be rotting food. Centered was a big shark head, eyes missing and maggots crawling in and out. Dipper quickly made a u-turn and walked down the other way.

There wasn’t much except for a cellar door and a desk with a map. The map was faded, but there was what looked to be the ancient seas of Europe. Bill bent down and opened the cellar door with a smile.

Dipper thought it was odd for Bill to be silent this long, but of they were going to haunt the ship, they needed silence to explore. Dipper climbed down a ladder and saw candles lit along the walls. There were boxes which looked to contain food, and barrels that probably contained a drink of some sort. There were mops and buckets next to the wall, and chair which faced a line of cells down a left hall. In the cells were skeletons in every dying position. A couple were holding onto the bars, and some were sitting along the wall. About two doors were open, and Dipper gulped at the eeriness of it, silently hoping no skeletons came to life.

“Well this is creepy,” Dipper shakily said. He had reached the other end and was standing beside the last cell. He turned around and saw Bill staring into a cell sadly. Walking up to him, confused, he poked him in the shoulder. “Hey, Bill, one of us can stay down here and the other can go up a floor. Remember, that’s why we’re here.” He shook his shoulder. “Hey, Bill, come on.”

Bill snapped his head to look at Dipper. He smiled and reached into his shirt pocket, pulling out a wrinkled flower. It was a salmon coloured rose. “Salmon,” he said, “for desire.” He then turned around and walked away. The mist grew very strong at this point, and as Dipper stood stunned, holding the flower, he thought he could see Bill fade like a ghost.

For a few minutes, he walked in silence, and found a cell that was relatively cleaner than most of them, and empty, and he sat by the wall. He had put the flower under his hat, hoping not to crumple it up anymore. He hung his head to look dead, and the misty glow, far from the light of the candles, turned his skin a ghostly white. He heard a child scream once or twice, and then again. He heard footsteps, and then heard the cellar door open and feet on the ladder. Taking a peek, he realized that a moon shone through a window above his head that wasn’t there before. Dipper shivered at how gloomy it felt, and anticipated the person walking towards him, closing his eyes. He thought how odd it was that the footsteps were a little heavier than a child’s, but then guessed a teenager or a parent came down.

Once the person walked past and began to stop in front of every cell, Dipper breathed and got ready for the big scare. As soon as he heard the steps stop in front of his cell, he sprang up and opened his eyes, shrieking at the kid. 

However, when he opened his eyes, it wasn’t a kid, and was instead an old man with a long white beard with what looked like bones sticking out and eyes that bulged out entirely black. His mouth hung halfway down the beard and long, curled and sharp teeth hung out. His nose was more like a long snout.

Dipper stared at him and his blood ran cold. His arms dropped to his sides and he couldn’t move or scream and he felt like he was in sleep paralysis. He stood there, and began to feel lightheaded, as if something was pulling him out of his body. He was terrified. The man’s mouth seemed to grow bigger, as if about to swallow him, and Dipper felt his existence fall forward into a black abyss.


	11. Purple Hyacinth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bill admits a secret and Mabel comes home at the end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> after 3 years it is done! heck thanks for your love! im sorry if this is less than expected ;; i dont ship billdip anymore aa

When Dipper had next woke up, it was outside. The cold of the morning seeped into his bones, and while his eyes adjusted to being open, he coughed, feeling like his chest was bursting.

 

“Pine Tree, you’re okay,” a voice sniffled above him. Dipper looked up into the one eye of Bill. Smiling softly up at him, Dipper reached a hand to lightly touch his cheek, which Bill held onto.

 

“Hey,” he managed to croak out. “What happened?”

 

Bill began to look sad. “ Dipper, there’s something I need to tell you.” He pulled Dipper up into a sitting position, wrapping his arms delicately around him. “I’m not who you think I am.”

 

Dipper pulled away just slightly. “What?”

 

Bill buried his face into Dipper’s shoulder. “I know you. Ten years ago, we hung out during the summer here.” He looked up and bit his quivering lip. “You don’t remember because I made it so I was erased from everyone’s memories. I- you fell down a hole. I couldn’t save you.”

 

It was beginning to come back.

 

“This time, with the ghost on that ship, I almost lost you again.”

 

Running through trees, whispers of magic in his ears, a young boy with him.

 

“I pulled you out of the hole, Dipper, but you were dead.”

 

Dipper began to lean further away, bewildered.

 

“That ghost was going to suck your soul away. I got so scared. You would have died again.”

 

Bill started crying. Dipper stared at him, confused but also knowing.

 

“I wanted to bring you ba-ack. But I had to give u-up my human form. I’m a de-demon now. I s-saved my magic to m-make me human again to see you.”

 

His tears were pitifully wetting Dipper’s costume.

 

“Bill? What do you mean, you saved your magic?”

 

He didn’t look up as he answered. “Magic is b-borrowed. If you save enough, you’ll g-get m-mo-more. If you get enough, you can change your de-demon form.” He held Dipper tighter. “I had to u-use more to make sure you never knew, but now you were almost dead and I had to- I- i’m so sorry, Pine Tree. I love you.”

 

Dipper peeled himself away. Bill looked up, pleading with his eyes as he stayed on the ground.

 

“You mean, this entire time, you knew me? You acted like a stranger just so you can befriend me? Fuck,” he ran a hand through his hair frantically, “I started calling my boyfriend! You’re a demon!”

 

Bill reached a gloved hand out. “Please-”

 

“No!” Dipper snapped. “Stay away from me.” He left the demon in the morning light, feeling his heart break in pieces and tears fall down his cheeks.

 

 

 

 

 

He didn’t know how, but by midday he was at the tattoo parlour. He had no intentions of working. From the corner of his eye, he saw the flower shop. He took a peek.

 

All of the flowers had wilted. Not a single one was alive. A drop of rain landed on one. The sun was out. Dipper was confused. He didn’t know what to think.

 

Crying, he threw the flower shop door open. Everything was wilted. He pained at the sight. He ran his sore legs into the ground to reach the back garden. When he opened it, there was nothing. It was just the back alley of a shop. No garden. He turned back and most of the flowers had turned to dust. His legs crumpled up beneath him as he fell, knees hitting the cement hard. He sobbed hard into his hands. He felt like he was losing his best friend.

 

In a way, he was.

 

 

 

 

 

At the Mystery Shack, Wendy and Soos were fast asleep. Stan sat Dipper down and begab grilling into him for answers.

 

“Where were you?”

 

“The ship.”

 

“What happened?”

 

“Dunno.”

 

“Where is Bill?”

 

“Fuck if I care.”

 

Stan stood with squinting eyes. “Listen, kid, you two are joined at the hip here. What happened? Did you have a fight?”

 

“Something like that.” Dipper sighed and put his head in his hands. “Fuck, this is so messed up. I thought I knew him, but I guess not.”

 

Stan rubbed his face tiredly. “Kids. Okay, how big is the lie here? If you had known would it have changed whether or not you wanted to be with him?”

 

Dipper thought for a second. “Pretty big lie. And yeah, I would have never dated him if I knew.” He waited for Grunkle Stan to speak, but he didn’t. He looked up at his bewildered face. “What?”

 

“Did he hit you?”

 

“What? Fuck no! Jesus christ, Grunkle-”

 

“Then what’s the problem? You were both completely fine yesterday!”

 

“He lied about who he was, that’s what!”

 

Stan threw his hands in the air out of exasperation. “Fine! Mope about your failed relationship without fixing it! See if I care!” Then he left Dipper in the dust.

 

He sat in silence. Thinking. He missed Bill, but like hell he would forgive him. So what if he saved his life? So what if they were best friends? He was still a demon. He still-

 

A flower floated in front of him, a little card attached. He froze as he stared at it. A purple hyacinth.

 

_Hyacinth(purple)_

_I am sorry_

 

Flowers.

 

_Flowers._

 

He started crying again. Whenever Bill was around flowers he was beautiful, happy, and whenever he looked at Dipper....

 

He sighed and rubbed his face. A demon saved his life. This demon was his best friend- no, _boyfriend_ , and he threw him out without a second thought. And here he was, using what little powers he had in order to apologize.

 

“Bill,” he whispered sadly.

 

A flash of light. He blinked a couple of times, then his focused on a triangle. _The_ triangle. For some reason, he knew it was who he was looking for.

 

“Pine Tree.” When Bill spoke, his voice filled Dipper’s head. “My demon form. I couldn’t waste my magic on keeping my human form.”

 

“Your flowers are gone,” he breathed in reply.

 

Bill’s one eye looked down sadly. “Yes, it would seem so. But no worries! I’ll be- I’ll be out of your h-hair soon! I-”

 

“I’m sorry,” Dipper blurted out. “For just pushing you away like that this morning. It was wrong. It was stupid. You’re a demon, yes, but you’re also my boyfriend. You- you saved my life! The least I can do is d-date you.” Dipper searched Bill for any emotion, but it was kind of hard considering he was a triangle. Then Bill began to change.

 

“A human’s eye is the doorway to the soul,” he was saying. He appeared out of his triangle form, dressed in all white with no top hat or eyepatch. Dipper gasped when he saw the blank space where his eye should be. He stood in surprise. “I had to give mine up to save you.”

 

“An eye for eye?” Dipper replied weakly.

 

Bill chuckled sadly, not bothering to open his remaining one up to look at him. “In a way, yes. Because my wish was to bring you back, I was able to give life to the simplest of things.”

 

“Flowers,” Dipper breathed. He reached out subconsciously and brushed his fingers along the open space. Bill flinched, eye popping open in surprise, but he relaxed into the touch.

 

“Precisely.”

 

Dipper felt his heart swell with what could only be love for the man before him. “Please stay,” he begged. “Don’t go.”

 

“I have to. Without magic I can’t exist on this plane.” He brought his hands to cup Dipper’s cheeks gently. “I love you, Pine Tree. I have to go soon.”

 

“I love you too.” Without thinking, Dipper shut his eyes and pushed forward, delicately pressing a kiss to Bill’s lips.

 

Bill froze before pressing into the kiss, arms wrapping around his waist gently. Dipper hugged him around his neck. The kiss was soft, gentle, full of love.

 

When Dipper pulled back. He stared into Bill’s eye sadly. Bill stared back. Then the unthinkable happened.

 

Bill’s eye popped into existence, surprising the both of them. Dipper leapt back with a girly shriek. Bill started laughing despite how hard his heart was hammering in his chest.

 

His heart.

 

His _heart_.

 

“I have a heart,” he breathed. “I have an eye.” He stared at Dipper, bewildered. “I’m human. Your kiss brought me back!”

 

Dipper stared for half a second before his face broke into a huge grin and he leapt into Bill’s arms happily.

 

 

 

 

 

“So wait,” Mabel was saying over the desk in the tattoo parlour, “he saves your life, sacrifices his humanity and eye, then your kiss brings him back?”

 

Dipper nodded thoughtfully. “Yeah, pretty much.”

 

“Wow!” she gasped. “Best love story ever!”

 

“Yeah,” Dipper agreed. He looked over to where Bill was currently arranging a flower arrangement on a table in the waiting area, tongue sticking out, dressed in normal attire. Without magic he’s had to get used to not doing whatever he wanted to, but it was worth it to see Bill stumble every now and then. Imperfect. Human. “The best.”


End file.
